


think about it, there must be higher love, down in the heart or hidden in the stars above

by endofdaysforme



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, F/M, also: happy birthday syd!, here have a long and very emotional one shot haha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 11:11:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20705033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endofdaysforme/pseuds/endofdaysforme
Summary: “stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!” cheryl chants over and over again, reaching for the zipper of the dress she’s wearing with hot tears in her eyes that she quickly blinks away before she heads straight to the kitchen to grab the bottle of wine still half empty in her fridge. she doesn’t even bother with a glass, drinks straight from the source and promises herself one thing and one thing only:that tonight is the last she’ll ever see of toni topaz ever again.--aka cheryl blossom and toni topaz pretty much hate each other after a disastrous first date, but fate has a way of throwing them back together after a terrible accident results in the loss of the two people they love most in the world...and leaves the child they left behind in their care.--aka, a 'life as we know it' au!





	think about it, there must be higher love, down in the heart or hidden in the stars above

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cheryltonis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheryltonis/gifts).

> HI HELLO!
> 
> FIRST THING'S FIRST!
> 
> I WANNA SAY A HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE CHONI FANDOM, SYDNI AKA CHONIBLOPAZ1 AKA CHERYLTONIS AKA THE AUTHOR OF 'I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHO I AM' AKA THE BEST CHONI FIC EVER.
> 
> SHOW HER SOME BIRTHDAY LOVE BY REREADING THAT PERFECT OF A FIC! 
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYD! LOVE YOU!
> 
> HERE'S A ONESHOT IN CELEBRATION OF YOUR DAY!
> 
> IT'S SAD, IT'S HAPPY, IT'S EMOTIONAL, IT'S CUTE, IT'S ANGSTY, IT'S FLUFFY, IT'S GOT EVERYTHING, AND I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT! 
> 
> YOU CAN FIND ME ON TWITTER AT @ENDOFDAYSFORME, I'M GONNA STOP SCREAMING NOW, OKAY BYE!!!

“seriously, jughead?”

“what?! blind dates can be fun and adventurous!” 

toni topaz rolls her eyes and reaches into her fridge for a beer, popping the cap off with the bottle opener on the counter top and kicking the fridge door shut as she walks out of the kitchen in her trailer and over to the living room where jughead jones is seated, a grin on his face and a chuckle escaping him as he turns his phone over to show-

“oh, holy shit…” toni breathes, eyes widening as she takes in the image of the girl her best friend is trying to set her up with.

long red hair, dark brown eyes, a jawline that looks like it could cut glass, this girl is _beyond_ beautiful-

she takes his phone, stares at the photo for a long time as jughead watches her with a wide smirk.

“told you she’s pretty.” he says with a shrug. toni scoffs and takes a sip of her beer before she collapses down beside him, eyes still trained on the photo before her in awe.

damn, she’s never seen any girls like _that_ on the southside…

“she’s not pretty, she’s a fucking _bombshell._ okay, i’ll bite. what’s a girl that gorgeous single for?” she deadpans, because there’s no fucking way someone _that_ stunning doesn’t have some kind of deep seated issues with her that have resulted in her not being in a relationship-

“she’s not crazy or anything, toni, god…she lost her twin brother when she was seventeen in a car accident, and since then…i don’t know, it’s been hard for her to kind of socialize. doesn’t help that her parents don’t exactly approve of her being gay…” jughead murmurs. toni frowns, sips her beer again and finally hands jughead his phone back.

“so she’s got mommy and daddy issues and is still dealing with the loss of her brother…and you want _me_ to take her out on a date?” toni says in disbelief, shaking her head and already mourning the loss of a night spent in bed with someone _that_ gorgeous as jughead rolls his eyes and looks to her sternly. 

“you two have a lot more in common than you think!”

“oh really? we’re so different, her eyes are even a different shade of brown! what makes you think we have _anything_ in common?” toni says with a laugh, shaking her head as jughead sighs and looks to her in desperation.

“toni, you’re almost twenty five, you can’t seriously want to keep doing this whole ‘one night stand’ thing with every tom, dick and harriet you can find in riverdale. don’t you think it’s time you settled down?” 

_oh, ouch, he’s got you there, topaz…_

“what, like you and betty?” toni teases in an effort to hide her discomfort, swiping his beanie off his head and laughing loudly when jughead immediately smoothes his hair over in a panic. 

“i mean…i’m not asking you to _marry_ this girl, i’m just saying you should go on a date! just one date! she’s betty’s cousin and she’s honestly an amazing person once you get through all the defensive walls she’s got up, toni.” jughead says firmly.

“oh, you know me, i just _love_ spending an evening tearing down defensive walls…” toni murmurs sarcastically, reaching for the tv remote that almost immediately gets snatched from her hand by jughead, who glares at her before holding up one finger.

“one date. just one!” he pleads. toni chews on her bottom lip, takes in the puppy dog eyes before she’s rolling her own and throwing jughead’s beanie back at him with a sigh.

“fine! one date! but if she breaks down in tears, you’re paying for the dinner.” 

jughead grins and toni shakes her head, unaware that just on the other side of the small town of riverdale is betty cooper herself, leaning across the kitchen counter of thistlehouse manor and holding her phone out to one miss cheryl blossom, who stares down at the photo with wide eyes before she’s scoffing and looking at her cousin in disbelief.

“you want me to go on a date with someone who has _pink_ hair?” she all but screeches, shaking her head as betty sighs and holds her phone out again for cheryl to take. 

“it’s just hair, cheryl! trust me, toni is amazing, one of the best people i know, and-.”

“and she looks like a complete and utter fuck girl, cousin betty. i’m not exactly excited to go on a date with someone who looks like she just wants to get into my pants.” cheryl drawls, making her way into the living room with a glass of wine in one hand and the bottle it came from in the other. 

she has no idea when her cousin decided to butt into her love life, but it’s getting old very quickly. betty’s already tried to set her up with almost every single gay girl in town, what’s going to stop the same thing happening all over again? no chemistry, no spark, no electricity…god, what’s the point in even trying?

“i’ll…admit, she’s had her fair share of, uh…_companions-._” cheryl scoffs, mouths the words ‘fuck girl’ as she tops her glass up just as betty collapses into the couch beside her. 

“but she’s finally looking to settle down! and you two have a _lot_ in common!” betty finishes her sentence with excitement, holding the phone up to cheryl’s face once again. cheryl sighs and stares at the photo properly this time, looking past the pink hair to see full lips, a slender nose and kind brown eyes…

okay…so she’s maybe one of the prettiest girls cheryl’s ever seen, but still…

“i highly doubt i have anything in common with someone who actively choose to dye their hair to look like cotton candy.” cheryl grumbles with a roll of her eyes, causing betty to whine and grip her bicep to give it a squeeze.

“just one date, cheryl! i think you two will get along really well!” betty exclaims, shaking the phone in her face to egg her on, and cheryl groans before she takes a long drink from her wine glass, swallows it down and looks at her cousin with pursed lips.

“fine, one date, but i can guarantee you it won’t go anywhere.” 

———

cheryl should’ve known it would all go fucking downhill the second toni showed up wearing ripped jeans, a tank top and a leather jacket to a date. 

oh, and when it took her over an hour to show up _to said date._

cheryl’s got her best red dress on, her makeup done to perfection and her hair curled equally so, and yet, she’s standing in the living room, constantly glancing at the clock on the wall and counting down the seconds that tick over into it officially being an hour since their date was supposed to begin.

toni topaz is late, and cheryl blossom is fuming.

she’s not going to text this girl or call her and ask her where she is. it’s likely toni is probably home, passed out drunk on the couch because she’s completely forgotten about this date in the first place, and the thought brings hot tears to cheryl’s eyes because she spent _hours_ on this fucking outfit and her hair and-

** _ding dong!_ **

cheryl exhales shakily, scoffs in disbelief and ignores the excitement in her heart that still shines at the thought of meeting this girl face to face for the first time before she jumps up from the couch and makes her way to the front door, all but throwing it open and glaring the second she sees a flash of pink hair.

toni topaz stands before her, looking…yes, incredibly _sexy_ (god, it’s impossible for her to look that fucking good), but also incredibly sheepish as she grins with her shoulders almost up to her ears with tension and her hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket.

they drink each other in for a moment, toni’s eyes roaming over cheryl’s body in awe while the redhead glares at her with the fire of a thousand suns while also trying to hide her clear attraction to her before toni exhales shakily and licks her lips.

“uh…hi. i’m sorry i’m late, work was crazy and-.”

“and you lost your phone and couldn’t text me to rearrange this for another night. of course, that’s understandable, _toni._” cheryl hisses, venom and sarcasm dripping from the way she says the pink haired girl’s name. toni’s eyes widen, and she swallows thickly before she nods slowly.

“yeah, uh…fuck, okay, you’re…you’re right, i should’ve called or something, but…i’m here now! so how about we go on this date of ours and i make up for being a complete asshat before even meeting you?” toni says with a grin. cheryl looks her up and down and scoffs before she all but shoves her out of the doorway, slamming it shut behind her and making her way down the porch of her home while toni whistles under her breath, glad to still have her head on her shoulders. she follows cheryl down the porch, a sigh escaping her as she nods towards her motorbike parked on the sidewalk.

“uh, we can take my bike if-.”

“i’m not getting on that monstrosity, we’ll take my car.” cheryl says stiffly without even looking back at her. toni rolls her eyes, already succumbing to the fact that tonight is going to be a _long_ night, fuck, she’s gonna murder jughead when she sees him next-

_blind dates are adventurous my ass, you beanie wearing hobo-_

cheryl jumps into the driver’s seat as toni opens the passenger door and carefully drops down into the seat, not wanting to do anything else to anger cheryl right now, and the redhead shoves the keys into the ignition and is about to turn the car on when the loud ringing of a phone echoes out around her. 

toni suddenly digs into her pocket and pulls her phone out, and cheryl smiles at her sarcastically before clapping her hands.

“oh, goodie! your phone _does_ work!” she cheers, biting down on the inside of her cheek to stop anymore sarcastic insults from flying out as toni winces and looks down at her phone before answering it with a frown.

“topaz…oh, uh…h-hey, holly, yeah…” toni’s eyes widen, this look of panic taking over her face as cheryl tenses up immediately at the sound of another woman’s muffled voice on the other end of the phone. 

“uh, yeah, the other night was fun, but…look, i’m kind of in the middle of something-.”

“actually. you’re not.” cheryl growls immediately.

a booty call…a fucking booty call when they’re about to go on a fucking date-

_enough._

she rips her keys out of the ignition, throws one gigantic glare at toni topaz’s way before she’s grabbing the latch, kicking the door open and exiting the car.

“fuck! uh, look, i’ll call you back in five minutes!” toni hisses, ending the call and jumping out of the car just as cheryl reaches the front door with her heels stomping on the concrete ground in anger.

“cheryl, wait! wait, i’m sorry-.” 

“showing up an hour late, i could accept! but then taking a booty call before we even get in the goddamn car to go to the restaurant?! you know what, go enjoy your night out with helen or whatever her name was! i’d much rather sit at home alone with a glass of wine than spend a single second more with _you!_” cheryl screams, and before toni even has the chance to say anything back, cheryl’s throwing the door open and slamming it shut behind her, the sound of her heels clacking on the ground echoing out to toni outside as she slumps in defeat. 

_fuck, this is betty’s cousin, why toni, why-_

“didn’t even last ten minutes, topaz, that’s a new fucking low for you…” toni grumbles under her breath, guilt flooding her over how much she’s really fucked up this whole night, but guilt that’s quickly gone when holly’s name flashes up on the screen once more.

well…she’s had a long night at work and if cheryl’s clearly cancelling their date…

“stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!” cheryl chants over and over again, reaching for the zipper of the dress she’s wearing with hot tears in her eyes that she quickly blinks away before she heads straight to the kitchen to grab the bottle of wine still half empty in her fridge. she doesn’t even bother with a glass, drinks straight from the source and promises herself one thing and one thing only:

that tonight is the last she’ll ever see of toni topaz ever again.

———

that promise, of course, is hard to fulfill when toni topaz is the best friend of her cousin’s husband. 

so, unfortunately, cheryl blossom is forced to see toni topaz once again when the wedding comes up and toni is named as jughead’s ‘best woman’ while cheryl is named as betty’s maid of honor.

which of course means they have to fucking go to the rehearsal dinners and help plan the entire event, and despite their general dislike for each other, cheryl finds that toni’s company isn’t exactly…_the worst._

especially when toni takes the time to pull her aside and apologize for her behavior that night. but regardless, there’s no chance in hell she’s forgiving her for the epic fail of a first date they were meant to have, and she makes sure to reiterate that by stepping on toni’s toes during the bride and groom’s dance at the wedding, something that toni takes somewhat graciously with a wince, a shaky exhale and a ‘maybe i deserve that, bombshell’, which just annoys cheryl even more cause she fucking hates that nickname, but toni had anointed it to her the second time they met and she hasn’t fucking let it go since. 

but then of course, the months go by. and jughead and betty host more events, now as husband and wife. and cheryl and toni are forced, over and over again, to see each other because they’re the best friends and they _have_ to show up every time. and yes, maybe they get along okay, when they’re not bickering or arguing over the littlest things like they are right now over dinner with jughead and betty, but cheryl would still very much prefer to not be in toni’s company at all. 

because for every charming smile toni throws her way, there’s the memory of her accepting a goddamn booty call on their date. for every time that toni makes her laugh, there’s cheryl walking into the girl’s bathroom at the wedding to find toni pinning one of betty’s friends from college to the wall with her hand up her dress and her lips attached to her neck. for every moment where cheryl thinks _maybe_ they can be friends, there’s moments like _this_-

“toni, that’s ridiculous, florida has disney world, california has disney _land_, it’s common goddamn knowledge! you’re getting mad over nothing!” cheryl hisses, stabbing her fork into her piece of tofu and lifting it to her lips as toni shrugs.

“hey, i’m not mad, you very clearly are though, bombshell! and by the way, isn’t it all the same crap? who cares if it’s called ‘world’ or ‘land’?!”

“disney _world_ is bigger than disney _land_! isn’t that obvious!?” cheryl snaps, rolling her eyes at the way toni waves her hand nonchalantly and reaches for her beer once again with a laugh.

“it’s all overpriced bullshit either way, who cares?” she exclaims. cheryl’s about to open her mouth when betty suddenly clears her throat.

“uh, well…” she says suddenly, looking to jughead, who takes a sip of his wine and looks at her sheepishly before he looks to cheryl and toni with a wide grin.

“we care. it’s why we brought it up in the first place.” he chuckles. toni frowns in confusion, a look shared equally by cheryl, who leans back into her chair and reaches for her glass of wine with a frown of her own.

“okay…are you planning a vacation? because hawaii would probably be better, and toni does kind of have a point, it’s a little overpriced.” she says firmly, surprised when toni nods along in agreement and tips her beer at cheryl to point at her.

“hawaii would probably cost even less.” she says. cheryl rolls her eyes once again as betty smiles, her hand suddenly moving down to rest over her stomach as jughead licks his lips and shakes his head to keep back a smile of his own.

“mmm, no, not planning a vacation, not right now…but maybe in like, five or so years? that’s why we asked which park is better, you know…so we can take our kid one day.” he says pointedly.

cheryl gasps, her hand covering her mouth in shock as toni looks on in complete and utter confusion until-

_oh!_

“holy shit!” toni exclaims, staring at betty clutching her stomach and looking at jughead as he laughs loudly before-

“you’re p-pregnant?!” cheryl exclaims, jumping up from her chair as betty nods excitedly and does the same.

“just reaching six weeks now-.”

“oh my god! oh my god, betty!” cheryl cries, throwing her arms around her cousin and hugging her tight in her embrace as toni pushes herself up out of her chair in an almost numb daze. 

jughead, a father? holy shit…

“dude…this is-.”

“crazy? yeah, i know. i’m still trying to wrap my mind around it.” jughead breathes nervously, and toni’s expression softens before she grips jughead’s shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“hey…you’re gonna be a great father, jug. i know shit was nuts when we were younger with your mom and dad, but you and betty…together, you’re magic. that kid’s gonna have a good life with you two.” toni says gently, smiling as jughead blinks back tears before he pulls toni into his embrace.

“thanks, tiny…i appreciate it.” he whispers. toni rubs his back with a smile, looks up to see cheryl looking at her with her arms still wrapped around betty and a smile on her face that she quickly returns before they swap and cheryl hugs jughead with a soft laugh.

“i had my reservations about you, jughead jones, but…maybe you’re not so bad after all.”

“gee, thanks, cheryl.” 

———

little cassandra jones is born on july twenty eighth at approximately four fifty two in the morning, on a sweltering summer day that toni is quite sure she’ll never forget. 

she’s there every step of the day, through every minute of the fourteen hours that betty spends in labor, and cheryl doesn’t leave her side, either. jughead freaks out at hour six, takes a lecture from cheryl at hour seven, and finally calms down by hour eight when toni takes a stab at reassuring him that everything will be okay despite not being too sure herself if it will be. 

but at the end of it all, cassandra jones is about as precious as diamonds, and toni can’t help but watch with a wide smile as cheryl bounces that small six pound baby in her arms while betty and jughead finish packing her clothes into a drawer at their home after finally being discharged from the hospital this morning.

“man…crazy to think just a couple of days ago she was in _there._” toni says, pointing at betty’s still swollen belly as the blonde rolls her eyes with a chuckle. 

“yeah, i still find myself wondering why she isn’t kicking anymore, it freaks me out.” 

“now she’ll just be screaming and crying instead…it’ll make you miss the kicking in no time.” cheryl teases, cooing softly with a grin as cassandra fuzzes in her arms. 

“i don’t know, she used to kick betty quite a lot…” jughead sing songs, looking to his wife with a grin as betty laughs and makes her way over to cheryl to press a sweet kiss to cassandra’s forehead. 

“maybe she’ll grow up to be a soccer player or something.”

“oh, i’m totally taking her to her games!” toni pipes up, grinning widely as jughead raises an eyebrow at her with a smirk.

“why, so you can hit on all the single moms?” 

“oh ho, hit the brakes there, jones! toni topaz is not a maternal person, she’s not becoming step mommy to anyone.” toni says quickly, raising her hands and shaking her head as cheryl scoffs and rolls her eyes.

“color me _not_ surprised, you couldn’t even commit to a two hour date.” she grumbles. toni frowns, is about to reply with a slightly angry retort because that was literally almost _two years ago_ now when jughead suddenly clears his throat and ruffles the back of his neck sheepishly.

“uh, speaking of taking her to soccer games…there is something we wanted to discuss with you two.” he says, looking to betty, who purses her lips before she looks to cheryl and toni with an almost nervous look in her eyes.

“uh, well…jughead and i were talking, and we decided that…we would really love it if you and toni would agree to be cassandra’s godparents.” she says with a nervous smile. 

toni looks at her in shock, turns her attention to cheryl, who tightens her grab on cassandra before her bottom lip is suddenly trembling and tears are welling in her eyes. 

and if toni thinks she looks insanely beautiful despite her tears, she pushes it down and simply watches as cheryl sniffs once and looks down at cassandra before looking back up at betty with a furious nod.

“of c-course! i’d l-love nothing more, i-oh, i shouldn’t speak for toni, i’m sorry!” cheryl says quickly, hiccuping once as she looks at toni, who laughs softly and simply shakes her head.

“no, you took the words right out of my mouth, bombshell. i’d be happy to be her godmother, betty.” toni says with a smile, making her way over to cheryl and looking down at the little baby in her arms with a laugh.

“hear that, cassie?! you’ve got the two best godparents in the world! we’re gonna spoil you silly, i promise!” she says in a high pitched voice, prompting a groan from jughead and a stern look from betty.

“you will _not_!” 

———

one year.

one year goes by and it seems like everything is as it should be.

but of course…life has other plans.

toni’s at a photoshoot for _lodge magazine_ when she gets the call.

cheryl’s displaying her new work at an art gallery when she gets hers. 

cheryl’s the first to arrive at the police station, eyes bloodshot red and wet with tears as she throws the door open and demands to speak to sheriff keller. 

he’s all apologies and sadness when he tells her what happened, and cheryl’s brain is short circuiting and her heart is clenching with each word that manages to get through.

_accident._

_drunk driver._

_car flipped._

_no survivors._

“it was their anniversary…they were going out to dinner, i-god, th-they…they h-have a d-daughter, a little b-baby girl, was…was she in-.” cheryl tries to choke out through her tears, and sheriff keller is quick to grip her shoulders with a shake of his head.

“no…no, they hired a babysitter for the night. child protective services swung by and picked her up, they’ll keep her overnight while they try to find a place for her. cases like this…they’re difficult.” he says hoarsely.

“‘cases like this’?” cheryl repeats, voice small, barely audible in her confusion as sheriff keller sighs sadly.

“orphaned children…” he murmurs. cheryl’s eyes close, her hand flying up to close over the golden heart necklace she got six christmases ago from her beautiful cousin…her beautiful cousin who is now gone forever…

“i…sheriff k-keller, are you s-sure? are you s-sure, p-please…” cheryl begs, tears falling down her cheeks, mascara staining her porcelain skin as sheriff keller sighs once again and squeezes her arm sympathetically.

“we’re sure, kid…i’m so sorry, cheryl.” 

everything else after that feels like static. 

cheryl confirms with sheriff keller that betty and jughead didn’t really have any other family but her and toni, the two best friends listed as their emergency contacts. betty’s father was somewhere in iceland the last time betty heard from him over ten years ago, and her mother had passed away while she was in college. as for jughead, well…his father had fallen off the wagon for the last time about five years ago, and jughead had cut him off completely when he refused to get sober once again. jughead’s mother was somewhere in toledo with his sister last he heard from them, but regardless, sheriff keller promises to try and get into contact with all of them to let them know what’s happened. 

it isn’t until toni arrives that things start to feel a little more real.

the loud rumbling of a bike pulls cheryl’s attention, her head snapping up to see the way toni screeches to a halt right in front of the police station before she’s jumping off it and rushing towards the entrance. she’s barely taken her helmet off before she’s ripping the door open and looking around with wild eyes, and before she has the chance to ask the receptionist for sheriff keller-

“toni…” 

the pink haired girl spins around quickly, makes eye contact with cheryl, who looks exhausted, but absolutely devastated and grief stricken, and toni drops her helmet in defeat, her knees buckling as she makes her way over to the redhead and quickly wraps her arms around her as she collapses into toni with a loud sob. 

“th-they’re g-gone! they’re g-gone, t-toni-.”

“shh…i’ve got you, shh…” toni whispers, tears welling in her eyes as she brushes her fingers through cheryl’s hair and tries her best to stay strong despite it all. 

they head back to cheryl’s house, wait for hours and hours on end on the phone with child protective services, trying _desperately_ to get to cassandra, but ultimately, no matter how hard they try, it’s useless.

they have to wait till the morning. cheryl feels helpless, beyond pissed off and annoyed as she hangs the phone up and looks to toni with bared teeth in anger. 

“this is ridiculous! why can’t we just bring her home?!” she snaps, all but throwing her phone onto one of the couches as toni sighs and quickly stands to reach out a hand in an attempt to soothe her.

“i don’t know, but staying up all night fighting them isn’t gonna help. let’s just…try and get some sleep, okay? we’ll be there first thing in the morning, the second they open those doors.” toni says softly, rubbing the small of cheryl’s back and watching with a smile as the girl relaxes into her touch before she exhales shakily and looks at toni with nothing but fear shining in her eyes.

“toni…what’s gonna happen to her? we can’t let them put her in the foster system-.”

“that won’t happen, we won’t let it, okay? we’ll figure something out, but right now…we just gotta rest and recharge. it’s been a long night…” 

it’s in that moment, for the first time since she saw toni walk into the police station, that cheryl really takes in toni’s appearance. her eyes are bloodshot like she’s been fighting off tears all night, and the haunted look in them only reminds cheryl that she’s not the only one who lost someone she loves tonight.

“toni…” cheryl croaks out, her hand immediately finding toni’s as the pink haired girl purses her lips and blinks back tears.

“i k-keep expecting him to call and tell me this is all just one big prank…” she says hoarsely, shaking her head and looking up at cheryl as the red haired girl bites down on a trembling bottom lip and pulls toni into her arms. 

she has no idea how long they’re wrapped up in each other’s embrace for, simply closes her eyes and rests her chin on top of toni’s head as the girl sobs into her shoulder, but cheryl finds herself comfortable despite the pain before toni finally pulls away and looks up at her with a sniff.

“hey, um…do you mind if i stay here tonight? i just…i really don’t wanna go back to my trailer right now…” she whispers, eyes distant and hazy as she remembers just how many fucking memories are now plagued with grief in that goddamn home of hers…

cheryl smiles and brushes the back of her hand over toni’s cheeks to get rid of her tears with a simple nod.

“of course you can, toni. there’s a spare bedroom down here, it’s got a bathroom and everything. i’ll grab you some pajamas.” 

“right…thanks, cher. i appreciate it.” 

———

toni wakes up the next morning much, much earlier than she’s used to, but truth be told, she barely slept at all to begin with.

she can feel it in the way her body aches and her eyes itch with fatigue as she makes a beeline for the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee, but to her surprise, cheryl’s already there, pouring a cup for herself out of the pot that she quickly hands to toni the second she sees she’s awake. 

“there’s milk in the fridge and there’s sugar in that jar over there.” cheryl says roughly with a loud sniff, nodding her head to the corner of the countertop, but toni barely pays attention, watching the way cheryl pours herself a cup of coffee with her back hunched over, not at all her usual prim and proper self.

“how are you feeling?” toni rasps out, taking a sip of the coffee in her hands and only wincing slightly at the strong coffee taste before she reaches for the fridge to grab the milk. cheryl licks her lips and turns to face toni with a simple shrug as she raises her coffee mug to her own lips.

“i barely slept last night.” she croaks out. toni sighs and pours some milk into her coffee before she nods.

“yeah, me neither.” she says with a sad but reassuring smile, one that cheryl returns before she suddenly glances down at the watch strapped to her wrist.

“sheriff keller called, he told me that betty and jughead’s lawyer wants to see us.” 

“what about?” toni asks in confusion, and cheryl simply shrugs and shakes her head.

“i’m not sure…it’s probably about cassie. he’ll be here in half an hour.” she says roughly. toni licks her lips and nods once.

“yeah…yeah, cool, sounds good.” 

they eat breakfast together, cheryl cooking them up tofu scrambled eggs that toni is surprised to find she actually really enjoys when betty and jughead’s lawyer arrives, and both girls lead him into the living room, nerves gripping them both as he sits down and looks to them with a sad smile.

“let me start by saying…my condolences to the both of you. betty and jughead always spoke highly of you both, and i know the loss of them hurts you two more than anything.” he says solemnly. toni swallows the lump in her throat, and only slightly flinches in surprise when cheryl suddenly grips her hand tightly and gives it a squeeze. 

“thank you.” she says in a small voice. toni interlaces their fingers and offers her a smile before the lawyer clears his throat and suddenly pulls some papers out of his briefcase.

“now, i’ve spoken with child protective services, they’re happy to take cassandra and place her in the foster system, but i told them i’d discuss it with you two first, considering you’re now her legal guardians-.”

“i’m sorry…wh-what did you just say?” toni squeaks, looking to cheryl with wide eyes and a racing heart as the redhead returns her look of confusion and panic. 

“did…did betty and jughead not discuss their will with you?” the lawyer says in surprise, looking at their shocked faces with panic before he licks his lips and sighs.

“right, well…this complicates things-.”

“wait, what do you mean _we’re_ her legal guardians? i know we’re her godparents, but godparents don’t have any legal rights, we don’t just _become_ her parents-.”

“not usually, no. but betty and jughead have written here in their will that in the unlikely event that anything should happen to them where they are either…no longer here or incapable of caring for cassandra, she’s to be placed in _your_ joint custody.” 

silence quickly fills the room before it hits cheryl and toni what that means.

“wait, _joint_ custody? but, we’re not together-.”

“we’re not married, or even dating, we pretty much _hate_ each other-.” 

“i only tolerated her because of jughead, to be honest, we can’t _raise_ cassandra together-.”

“ladies! look, i’m sorry, but it’s either cassandra stays with the both of you or she gets put into the foster system. or…if we can find relatives of betty and jughead’s-.” 

“his dad’s a deadbeat and his mom’s in toledo, probably doesn’t even care that he’s dead.” toni growls.

“betty’s mother passed away a few years ago and her father hasn’t spoken to her in a decade, he also probably doesn’t care that she’s dead.” cheryl scoffs.

“well…” the lawyer says with a sigh, looking back and forth between them both as they exchange glances before-

“excuse me.” they both say at the same time, jumping up and rushing to opposite sides of the room as cheryl exits through the backyard and toni exits through the front entrance.

“fuck…fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-.” toni whispers over and over again, tears in her eyes as she grips her hair and tries not to scream.

she can’t…she can’t just become a mother overnight, this is fucking insane!

“no, no, no, this is not happening, this is _not_ happening…” cheryl breathes, biting down on her fist to stop herself from screaming as she runs through what this all means in her mind.

raising a child with toni topaz? no, no fucking way, toni herself was a goddamn child, how can cheryl rely on her to help her raise betty and jughead’s baby!?

she’ll do it on her own…she can do that, right? yeah…yeah, there’s gotta be an option where she can just take cassandra into her home-

she rushes back inside at the same time toni does, the both of them collapsing into their seats as they look up at betty and jughead’s lawyer with breathless smiles.

“is there any way that i can…i don’t know, just take care of cassandra on my own?” cheryl asks, watching as the lawyer frowns before-

“hey, wait, what? on your _own?_ cheryl, i’m not gonna let you do this by yourself, do you know how hard it is raising a kid?” toni says incredulously, looking at her in disbelief as cheryl rolls her eyes and scoffs.

“no offense, toni, but if i remember correctly on the day cassie was born, you said you’re not exactly the maternal type.” 

“yeah well, that was before jughead decided to put me down as her legal guardian! i’ll step up to the plate, cassie’s my goddaughter too, cheryl!” toni says firmly, and before cheryl has a chance to open her mouth, the lawyer is sighing and raising a hand to silence them both.

“either way, it says here in the will that should one of you turn down or reject your duties, cassandra is to be placed in the foster system. betty and jughead specifically told me they didn’t want cassandra to be raised in a broken home like they were. so it’s either the both of you, or neither of you.” 

those words hit toni like a goddamn freight train, sucking the breath right out of her lungs as tears fall down her cheeks before she can stop them. of course they wouldn’t want her to be raised in a broken home…god, who would want that for their child? 

she looks at cheryl, who bites down on her bottom lip with hesitation before she sighs shakily and looks to toni with a frown.

“we can’t let her be bounced from foster home to foster home, toni, we can’t-.” 

“i know…” toni says swiftly, pursing her lips before she looks up at the lawyer with a affirmative nod.

“we’ll do it. whatever challenges we face, whatever happens, we’ll keep their promise. she won’t be raised in a broken home. what do we need to sign?”

———

“well, this seems quite clear cut. by the power vested in the court and the state, i place cassandra alice jones in the care of cheryl marjorie blossom and antoinette mercedes topaz.” 

with that, the judge bangs her gavel, and cheryl exhales shakily while toni stares up at the judge in surprise as betty and jughead’s lawyer moves to the judge to grab the legal papers she just signed off her. 

they’ve literally only been in court for ten minutes, what the-

“wait, that’s it? but…what if we’re drug dealers or weird pedophiles or something-.”

“toni!” cheryl hisses, glaring at her as the judge sighs and looks to toni with a raised eyebrow. 

“_are_ you drug dealers or weird pedophiles?” she says simply. toni scoffs despite herself.

“of course not, but-.”

“i’m sorry, we know you’re busy! toni, let’s go.” cheryl grabs toni’s hand, follows betty and jughead’s lawyer out of the room whilst dragging toni behind her. toni shakes her head, but the second they’re out of the court room, the lawyer turns to them with a chuckle and claps his hands together.

“alright, well! let’s get cassandra out of protective services and into your custody! now, we’ll need to discuss living arrangements-.”

“wait, living arrangements?” cheryl says swiftly, letting go of toni’s wrist in shock as the pink haired girl frowns.

“look, i live in a shitty little trailer that has one bedroom, so it’s probably for the best if she stays at cheryl’s-.”

“actually, is there any chance you two would consider moving into betty and jughead’s home?” 

toni’s heart stops. 

she freezes, cheryl doing the same as they exchange glances before they look to the lawyer in disbelief.

“you want us to live in our dead best friends’ home?” toni scoffs. 

“_together?_” cheryl adds, eyes wide as the lawyer sighs and looks to them sternly.

“cassandra is only a year old, but she’s already become familiarized with what home is, to pull her out of the environment she’s in can be damaging.” 

“her parents are dead, how much more damaging can it get?!” toni hisses, but cheryl’s fingers grip her wrist, this sense of calm washing over her immediately as the lawyer runs his fingers through his hair. 

“look, i…we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure cassandra is okay, but…living in that home, that’s…” cheryl says shakily, licking her lips nervously as the lawyer reaches out to grip both their shoulders. 

“i understand you’re both mourning, too. but this is about cassandra, and about making sure she’s raised in a loving and happy home.” 

“i know that, but, god…to _live_ there?” toni whispers, looking to cheryl for some form of guidance here as the redhead sighs and shakes her head.

“just…give us time to think about it, please? right now, we just want to see cassandra.” cheryl whispers. the lawyer frowns, but nods once before he leads them towards the front door of the court house. cheryl and toni exchange a glance, and cheryl’s fingers wrapped around toni’s wrist suddenly move down to interlace with toni’s. 

“we can do this, right?” she breathes. toni inhales sharply and gives her hand a reassuring squeeze before she nods.

“honestly, cheryl…i don’t know. but right now, let’s just focus on getting cassie out of protective services.” 

cheryl nods resolutely at that, and the both of them let go of each other at the same time before they follow the lawyer out.

the drive to child protective services doesn’t take long, but the second they reach, cheryl and toni jump out of the car and make their way to the front door, barely giving the lawyer enough time to follow them as they walk straight to the receptionist as soon as they’re through. 

“hi, i’m cheryl blossom, this is toni topaz, we’re here for cassandra jones.” cheryl says quickly just as the lawyer reaches them and hands them the legal papers that have now named cheryl and toni as cassandra’s legal guardians. 

“ah, yes! she’s just through the other room, let’s go grab her!” the receptionist says cheerfully. cheryl and toni follow her through, and the receptionist walks straight to the back as cheryl and toni stand there in shock and take in the number of kids in front of them.

“oh my god!” cheryl whispers, tears welling in her eyes as she looks around at the number of kids without homes…

“fuck, look at all these kids…” toni breathes, gripping cheryl’s hand in her own once again for the second time today before the receptionist returns-

and little cassandra jones is in her arms, fussing and whining a little before she smiles the second she sees cheryl and toni standing ahead of her. 

toni’s heart beats erratically, her breath catching as cheryl rushes forward and immediately holds her hands out to take cassandra into them.

“hey! hey, honey, hi…” cheryl coos softly, and toni watches as, within less than a minute, cheryl breaks down in tears, sobbing quietly as her blood red lips press gentle kisses to cassandra’s forehead. 

“i got her, cher, come on…” toni murmurs, holding her hands out to take cassandra off cheryl as the redhead trembles almost violently with choked out sobs, falling down onto her haunches and burying her face into her hands. 

“hey…hey, babygirl, shh, aunty cheryl’s just a little sad, it’s okay…” toni whispers, blinking back her own tears as she straddles cassandra against her hip and reaches her free hand out to squeeze cheryl’s shoulder. 

“breathe, cheryl…breathe, shh…” toni bends down, keeps a firm arm wrapped around cassandra’s waist as she fiddles with toni’s necklace happily. cheryl takes in a shuddering breath, tears and mascara tracks staining her cheeks before toni tucks a finger under her chin to lift her gaze.

“hey…come on, you gotta stay strong for her, okay? for _her._” toni whispers, brushing cheryl’s tears away with her thumb gently as the redhead swallows loudly and nods once. 

“okay…okay, i’m s-sorry-.”

“s’okay. come on, up you get.” toni takes her hand, stands with her at the same time as cheryl smiles shakily at her and sniffs back more tears before looking to cassandra and smoothing her thumb over the baby’s forehead.

“h-hi, sweet girl…i’m sorry, i’m sorry…let’s t-take you home…” 

toni looks to the lawyer behind them and squares her shoulders before she takes a deep breath in and nods.

they have to do it.

they have to do it for cassandra. 

“we’ll do it. we’ll move in to betty and jughead’s home.” 

————

adjusting to living in a new home, particularly the home of their dead best friends, is strange enough, but adjusting to now having to take care of a one year old?

yeah, that’s a complete one eighty to what their lives _were._

betty and jughead’s room remains untouched, the both of them refusing to enter it, which results in toni taking the fold out couch and cheryl taking the guest bedroom after a long argument, but regardless, the harsh reminders are all over the place in photos and items that both betty and jughead owned. jughead’s typewriter in a cabinet, betty’s wedding dress in a box in the storage room…

it hurts. it hurts so much to be in this home, but cheryl and toni slug it out for cassandra, and for the most part, cassandra takes it well.

she adjusts to having cheryl and toni around instead of her parents now, doesn’t fuss too much as the weeks go by. but cheryl and toni would be lying if they said the first week wasn’t a nightmare.

cassandra cried non-stop after the first day, perhaps some part of her realizing that her parents aren’t around anymore, and cheryl and toni had stayed up for almost forty eight hours straight in an attempt to calm her down. 

“cheryl, what do i do?!” toni had screamed, her frustration getting the better of her as the redhead stared at them at a complete and utter loss. 

but it’s been three weeks now, and slowly but surely, they’ve adjusted.

cheryl and toni set up a calendar, decide which days to take a break so they can focus on their work. thankfully, both their jobs don’t involve them needing to be too far away from home, but cheryl takes friday nights for herself and toni takes saturday nights for herself. 

they adjust.

…kind of. 

“toni, she’s been fussing all day and her skin feels hot, should we check if she has a temperature?” cheryl says with worry, carrying cassandra into the dining room where toni is hunched over her computer editing photos for a client. toni barely looks up from her screen as she shrugs.

“uh, yeah…there’s a thermometer in her room i think, in the pocket on the side of the changing table.” she murmurs. cheryl rolls her eyes, but carries cassandra upstairs, bouncing her in her arms as she whines in an effort to calm her down. 

“it’s okay, sweet girl, shh…” cheryl reaches into the pockets of the changing table, pulls out the small thermometer and makes her way back downstairs. 

“toni, can you hold her?” cheryl asks with a sigh, holding cassandra out to toni as soon as she enters the dining room. toni purses her lips, her eyes still on the screen as she simply holds her hands out.

“toni?! can you maybe pay attention?” cheryl snaps angrily. toni glares up at her.

“cheryl, i have an eight o’clock deadline, and this is a big job, if i don’t get these out on time, my reputation will go down the drain.” she deadpans. cheryl glares back at her before she all but snatches cassandra back out of toni’s grip.

“never mind, i’ll do it myself!” she hisses. toni sighs loudly as cheryl carries cassandra into the living room, grumbling under her breath as she does. she sits down on the couch and rests cassandra in her lap, stripping off her shirt and leaving her in her little singlet underneath. she grabs the thermometer and places it under her armpit, kissing her forehead to keep her from whining.

“i know, i know, shh…” cheryl whispers, sighing as the thermometer beeps twenty seconds later.

cheryl looks down, reads a hundred and one point six, and feels her heart drop.

“oh god…oh god!” cheryl jumps up and rushes straight into the dining room with tears welling in her eyes.

“toni, she has a high fever!”

“what? how high?” toni says, quickly turning in her seat to look at her in shock as cheryl holds up the thermometer. 

“shit…shit, okay, yeah, let’s…let’s get her to the hospital!” 

she shuts her laptop immediately, jumps up as cheryl runs into the living room to grab her purse while still cradling cassandra close to her chest, and toni grabs the car keys and her wallet and almost forgets to lock the front door in her haste to get to cheryl’s car. they buckle cassandra into the backseat as cheryl jumps in beside her, and toni’s just rushing to the driver’s seat when cassandra begins to cry loudly.

“shh, shh, it’s okay, baby girl, shh!” toni exclaims, turning the car on and barely registering that this is the first time she’s even driving cheryl’s car as she peels out of the driveway and heads straight for the hospital. 

they rush in as soon as they park, throwing their doors open and unbuckling cassandra from her seat before they run towards emergency with anxious looks and racing hearts. cheryl tries to swallow down the feelings that rise in her, the feelings of failure that hit her so hard as toni stops at the reception with a breathless pant.

“please! we have a one year old, she has a high fever-.”

“calm down, ma’am, we’ll have a doctor in to see her in a moment-.”

“no, right now! her fever is at a hundred and one point six!” cheryl screeches, bouncing a crying cassandra in her arms as the receptionist stares at them stonily. 

“and i also have a man with a stab wound and a woman with stage four cancer who has been vomiting for five hours straight! a hundred and one isn’t too high-.”

“a hundred and one point six!” cheryl repeats with a growl, and the receptionist rolls her eyes and scoffs.

“take a seat in the waiting room, a doctor will be with you shortly-.”

toni slams her palms down onto the counter with a growl and leans forward.

“get us a fucking doctor right now or i swear to god-.”

“what is going on here?” toni spins around just as a man in green scrubs rounds the corner, and she’s about to retort angrily when suddenly-

“oh my god…archie andrews?” cheryl breathes, looking at the man with red hair before in awe as the man blinks once before he rushes towards her.

“cheryl blossom?! from high school?” he says with a chuckle of surprise, coming to a stop in front of her as cheryl chuckles and nods furiously.

“yeah-yes! yes, it’s cheryl, it’s so good to see you, i…archie, please, we need your help, our baby is sick, she has a high fever!” cheryl pleads, hoisting cassandra up higher onto her hip as archie looks at her in shock before he frowns.

“how high?” archie asks immediately, smiling down at cassandra before reaching for one of her hands as she flails them about with a whine.

“a hundred and one point six.” toni breathes, stepping forward and making sure to shoot a glare at the receptionist as she does, and archie’s frown deepens before he nods and rests a hand on the small of cheryl’s back.

“alright, let’s get you to a private room so i can examine her, okay? there’s no need to panic, cheryl, we’ll look after her.” cheryl sighs in relief, and toni follows them feeling somewhat confused as they make their way down the hallway of the emergency room and enter a private examination room.

archie opens the door and leads the two of them in, cassandra’s cries dying down as cheryl continues bouncing her before archie closes the door behind them and points to the table ahead.

“just sit her down there, cheryl.” he says with a smile, reaching for the glove dispenser on the wall and quickly snapping them on while cheryl places cassandra on the table and stands right by her side. toni joins her, worry pounding through the both of them as archie makes his way over to them and reaches for the stethoscope around his neck.

“how old is she?”

“one year and two months.” cheryl sniffs, and archie simply nods once before he grins down at cassandra.

“hey, sweet girl! your mommies are a little worried about that high fever of yours, huh?” archie says in a soft voice, grabbing a stool and wheeling it over to the table with a smile as cassandra gurgles at him.

“oh, uh…we’re not her parents.” toni murmurs, cheeks flushing as she looks up at cheryl while archie raises an eyebrow at them in confusion. 

“my cousin…betty cooper, you remember her?” cheryl asks softly as archie begins his examination.

“oh, yeah…she was dating that kid with the beanie, uh-.”

“jughead jones.” toni says roughly, already blinking back tears as archie nods once with a chuckle. 

“yeah, i remember them! they won ‘most likely to be high school sweethearts’ in the yearbook.” he says fondly. cheryl smiles shakily before she licks her lips. 

“uh, well, they definitely did because…they got married and they…they had a child, _this_ child, but…they passed away a few weeks ago in a car accident, and cassandra is staying with us now.” cheryl whispers, her head bowed as archie suddenly freezes before he looks up at cheryl in complete and utter shock.

“oh my god…cheryl, i’m so sorry…” archie breathes, the shock still evident on his face as he looks down at cassandra like he’s trying to find bits and pieces of betty and jughead in her…her green eyes so like betty’s, her dark hair so like jughead’s…

“it’s okay…” cheryl whispers simply, brushing away her tears as toni sighs and inches closer to her to rest a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

archie is quiet, and toni hears him sniffle quietly as he continues to examine cassandra, resting his stethoscope against her heart before he’s reaching for an otoscope to place in cassandra’s ear.

“so, uh…how long have you two been together?” archie asks with a clear of his throat, looking up at them both with a sad smile.

cheryl feels her cheeks flush as toni chuckles nervously and ruffles the back of her head.

“oh, w-we’re not dating, we just stepped up the plate, you know…they were our best friends…” she mumbles, looking up at cheryl as the redhead averts her gaze and keeps her attention on cassandra. archie frowns, but says nothing more as he pulls back and smiles down at cassandra.

“let’s check that temperature of yours now.” he says gently, reaching for a thermometer and placing it under cassandra’s armpit as the girl fusses in his arms with a whine. 

“i can’t believe you became a doctor, archie, that’s amazing.” cheryl says with a smile, watching as archie chuckles before he shrugs and looks up at her.

“well, after dad died, i just threw myself into my school work…i wanted to be something better, you know? wanted to help save lives, and i wanted to make dad proud.” he says with a sad smile.

“you’re definitely accomplishing that.” cheryl says softly, exchanging another smile with the man as he purses his lips and nods once before jumping up from his stool with a deep sigh.

“a hundred and one point two, hmmm…well, she doesn’t appear to be fighting off any kind of bacterial infection or flu, her ears are clear and her breathing is normal…hey, sweetheart, do you think you can open your mouth up for me, darling?” archie says in a high pitched voice with a grin, prompting cassandra to laugh at the sound of his voice as archie flashes a torch into her mouth and-

“ahh…now i see…” he murmurs.

“see? see what?” toni asks immediately, eyes wide and worry gripping her as he chuckles and looks up at them with a smirk.

“she’s teething. inflamed gums!” he says simply. toni freezes.

“teething? but…but she already has her teeth-.”

“mmm, it’s her back ones growing in now i believe. she won’t have a full set until she’s at least twenty four months old, which means she’ll go through bouts of diarrhea and pain, which seems to be the case here. there’s not much you can do for her unfortunately, but it explains the high fever. it’s a little higher than normal, i’ll admit, but just keep an eye on her for the next couple of days, give her some pain relief medication and…” archie trails off as toni and cheryl stare at him like he’s speaking another language, and he chuckles before he makes his way over to a tray by the windows of the room. he pulls out a small bottle in a box, shakes it with a grin and holds it out to cheryl once he reaches her.

“here, on the house. it’ll give you directions on how much to give her in a little pamphlet inside, and there’s also an oral syringe inside. keep checking her temperature every couple of hours, if it goes above a hundred and two, bring her back here for another check up, okay?” 

“o-okay…are you sure it’s just her teething, archie?” cheryl breathes anxiously, and archie smiles before he nods.

“i’m quite sure, but you’re more than welcome to get a second opinion if you’d like.” he says with a smirk, and cheryl lets out a sigh of relief as toni reaches for cassandra while trying to contain her anger.

teething…that’s all this is, she’s just fucking teething-

“no, it’s fine, thank you doctor andrews.” toni hisses, snatching the bottle from his hands and all but stomping towards the door out of the private room as cheryl stares at in her shock before she lets out a rushed goodbye to archie.

“toni! toni, wait up!” cheryl calls as soon as she closes the door shut behind her, searching around the room to find toni near the entrance to the emergency room. 

“hey! what’s your problem-.”

“she’s teething, cheryl! just _teething!_ my deadline is in two hours, and i could’ve spent the last hour editing photos and getting this job done!” toni growls, wincing when cassandra begins to fuss in her arms before cheryl reaches for her and snatches cassandra out of them. 

“it could’ve been something worse! her fever was high-.”

“by barely anything! you panic over the smallest things-.”

“oh, screw you, toni! how was i supposed to know she was just teething?! i don’t _know_ what i’m doing here-.”

“and you think i do!? we’re both stumbling through the dark in this, for fuck’s sake, cheryl! but that doesn’t mean we have to rush her to the hospital every time she has a mild fever!  
she’s _fine!_” 

“and what if she wasn’t?! what if it was something serious or terrible and we didn’t bring her to the hospital because oh, you think her having a mild fever doesn’t mean anything?!” cheryl screams, and toni’s about to retort angrily when cassandra suddenly begins to wail loudly, clearly upset by the loud voices echoing on either side of her. 

“great, now you’ve made her cry!” cheryl growls, turning her back on toni and bouncing cassandra in her arms in an attempt to calm her down, cooing softly as she does. toni scoffs, throws her arms up into the air and makes her way to the car, and she has half a mind to just grab cassandra and leave cheryl here in the hospital, but the redhead is strapping cassandra into the backseat and plopping down beside her angrily before she has time to even contemplate it.

the car ride home is silent, cheryl fuming in the backseat with an equally frustrated toni driving as she pulls up into the driveway fifteen minutes later. it’s quiet for a few moments, the both of them still before-

“let’s just give her that pain relief medication and try and put her to bed-.”

“don’t bother, i’ll do it myself! go back to editing those damn photos before i have to hear another word about how i’ve ruined your career because i care too much about the child that’s been placed in _our_ care!” cheryl hisses, and toni slumps in her seat guiltily with a sigh as cheryl unbuckles cassandra from the carseat and carries her inside the house without a backward glance. 

toni doesn’t move, stays in the car for a good ten minutes blinking back tears as the guilt grips her so tightly, she feels like she can’t breathe.

jughead trusted her enough to place the most important person in his world in her care, and here she was, prioritizing a _job_ over her…

_what the fuck is wrong with you, toni?_

toni wipes at her damp cheeks and slowly steps out of the car, sniffing any other tears back as she makes her way up the stairs slowly and quietly. she enters the baby’s bedroom to find cheryl in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, singing softly under her breath and swaddling cassandra in her arms as the baby’s eyes flutter beneath the lids in exhaustion. 

toni simply waits and watches, a smile playing on her lips that quickly fades when cheryl looks up after a while and notices her watching. her expression immediately turns stony at the sight of her, and she suddenly slowly rises from the rocking chair and places cassandra into her crib before she turns and makes her way towards toni with quiet steps.

“cheryl-.” toni starts in a low voice, but cheryl places a finger over her own lips to gesture her to be quiet as they both inch out of the room. cheryl closes the door behind them slowly before she looks at toni expectantly. 

“cheryl…i’m sorry, okay? you’re right, it could’ve been something serious and taking her to the hospital was the right choice.” toni says with a shaky sigh. cheryl lifts her chin up stiffly before she simply nods.

“well…good.” she says firmly. toni rolls her eyes, but smiles nonetheless before she bites down on her lower lip and bows her head, trying to find the words to say…

“it’s…everything’s _changed_, cheryl. i never used to have to worry about deadlines because i always got the job done within a couple of hours. i love my work so much but now…now there’s this little kid in my life that’s eating up all my time, and fuck, i don’t mind at all because i love jughead and betty and more than that, _i love cassie_, but it’s just…it’s hard. and i need you to give me the benefit of the doubt sometimes, i need you…” toni swallows thickly, blinking back tears as she finally looks up at cheryl to see nothing but sadness reflected in both their eyes. 

“i need you to not give up on me. because i’m trying, i swear i am, it’s just…_hard._” toni whispers, her tears spilling over before she can stop them. cheryl’s tense shoulders relax suddenly as she lets out a deep sigh and suddenly reaches down to grip toni’s hand into her own.

“toni, i know it’s hard, god…you think this has been easy for me? i used to spend every spare minute of every day painting on a canvas, putting hours of work into every piece of art i produced because i had the time to, and now…i haven’t picked up a paintbrush in _weeks._ so i understand how hard it is, but cassie…we’re all she’s got now. she’s just a defenseless kid who’s lost the two people who were meant to hold her hand and guide her through life. don’t we owe it to her, and to jughead and betty, to try and do the job they were meant to?” 

toni feels like the breath’s been knocked out of her, and she lets out a choked out whimper before she’s nodding in agreement, that guilt hitting her in tidal waves before suddenly-

cheryl reaches out and pulls toni into her arms, hugging her close with a sigh and rubbing her back consolingly as she does.

“shh…just breathe, toni. i’m sorry i yelled, too. we shouldn’t fight like that in front of her, remember what jughead and betty wanted…” cheryl murmurs softly. toni wraps her arms around cheryl’s waist and grips the back of her shirt between her fingers for comfort, squeezing her eyes shut.

“they don’t want her to be in a broken home.” toni says hoarsely. cheryl simply hums in reply, and toni sniffs before she pulls away and looks up at cheryl with a sad, but determined smile. 

“i’m sorry.” she croaks out. cheryl sighs and brushes away her tears gently.

“so am i. forgive me?”

and toni finds herself laughing despite her sadness at cheryl’s words before she nods with a smirk.

“only if you’ll forgive me, bombshell.” 

—————

“toni, please make sure she doesn’t get it on her shirt!” cheryl groans, following after toni through the shopping center with her heels clacking on the ground as the pink haired girl holds an ice cream cone up to cassandra’s mouth with a grin. she’s strapped to a baby carrier around toni’s body, her back pressed to toni’s chest as she flails her legs and stares at the ice cream with an excited squeal.

“she’ll be fine, cher! she was a good girl today, didn’t cry once the whole time we’ve been out shopping, she deserves a treat!” toni exclaims, giggling as cassandra grips her hand around the cone and sticks her tongue out with a whine. cheryl watches with a frown, knows if she sees a single drop of chocolate ice cream on that white shirt-

“oh, cher, look! look at this!” toni exclaims loudly, making her way over to one of the stores that looks like a goddamn biker bar with the ice cream still in her hands as she comes to a stop by the window.

“look! it’s a little baby helmet!” toni squeals, practically jumping up and down as cassandra shoves her face into the ice cream with frustration.

“toni! god, can you pay more attention to her, please?! and what on earth would she need a helmet for?!” cheryl snaps, swinging her baby bag around to pull wipes out with a sigh as cassandra’s tongue snakes out to lick the ice cream off her own face with a giggle. toni shrugs and brings the half melted ice cream to her own lips, licking off the melted parts before she grins.

“so she can ride on my bike!” she says as if it’s the simplest thing in the world.

cheryl freezes, eyes wide with shock as she scoffs and wipes away the ice cream from cassandra’s mouth and hands quickly.

“she is not getting anywhere near that monstrosity until she’s at least twenty one!” 

“oh come on, bombshell! i was riding by a bike by the age of fifteen and i’m fine!” toni exclaims, waving her hand nonchalantly as cheryl smirks up at her evilly.

“oh yes, you’re doing _amazing_ for someone who’s reaching thirty and still dyes their hair pink.” cheryl teases. 

toni’s mouth drops open, a gasp escaping her as cassandra tries to reach for the ice cream again.

“wow! low blow, cheryl blossom! cassie likes the color!” 

“sure, _that’s_ why you do it, now give the kid the ice cream, toni topaz!”

“oh, what a beautiful child!” toni and cheryl both look up in surprise to see an older lady looking at cassandra with a wide smile on her face, cooing softly as cassandra reaches a hand up to try and grab the ice cream from toni’s hand with a whine. 

“oh, thank you.” cheryl says with a chuckle, observing with a smile as toni allows cassandra to take a lick of the ice cream. 

“you two make a good couple!” 

both cheryl and toni’s head snaps up at that, the woman smiling at them widely as toni chuckles nervously and shakes her head.

“oh, uh…we’re not-.”

“but, i have to ask…” the older woman steps closer all of a sudden, dropping her voice to a whisper and toni just _knows_ whatever she’s about to say next is gonna piss her off.

“do you think it’s wise to raise a child without a father, dears?” she says softly.

toni clenches her fist the second she hears those words, anger boiling through her, and she’s about ready to punch this woman in the face-

“excuse me? how _dare_ you, you don’t know the first thing about us!” cheryl yells, her voice echoing around the shopping center as the woman stares at her in with wide eyes in shock.

“oh, no, i didn’t mean to upset you, i’m just stating facts, honey-.”

“don’t call me ‘honey’! we’re raising her just fine on our own, we don’t need some _man_ in our lives to come along and teach us how to raise her!” cheryl barks angrily, and toni, not wanting to not get her word in, scoffs and stares at the woman with a smug smirk.

“considering i was raised without a father, i think i turned out pretty great, right, cheryl?” toni says, reaching out to take the redhead’s hand, and cheryl interlaces their fingers without hesitation.

“you’re _perfect_, toni! now come on, let’s get out of here.” she huffs, keeping their hands clasped together as they walk away from the old woman who watches them go in shock. 

it isn’t until they get to the parking lot that it really hits the both of them what that woman just said.

cassandra was supposed to be raised by a father…and a mother…a happy married couple, that’s who cassandra was _supposed_ to be raised by…does that old lady think that if betty and jughead could be here, they wouldn’t? god, cheryl’s positive betty and jughead would sacrifice everything to be here again, to be here with cassandra, doing what she and toni are doing…

_stupid old bitch…god, i’m so sorry, cousin betty…_

toni frowns at the way cheryl squeezes her hand tightly, and sighs when she sees cheryl blinking back tears as she helps cassandra finish off the ice cream in her free hand before reaching for the car keys in her pocket.

“do you want me to drive, cher?” she asks softly. cheryl bites down on her bottom lip before she nods, and toni smiles and quickly lifts cassandra out of the baby carrier strapped to her chest, handing her over to cheryl as the redhead opens the back door and begins to strap cassandra down into the baby seat. 

the rest of the day passes by almost quietly, cheryl almost moving around the house like a ghost while toni tends to cassandra with worry for the redhead girl gripping her. even when toni drops some food on cassandra’s shirt while feeding her, cheryl doesn’t chastise her, and toni’s worry only increases when, once they put cassandra to bed later on in the night, cheryl heads straight for the guest bedroom with a barely mumbled ‘goodnight’ to toni.

toni stays up a little longer, watches tv and tries her best not to worry, but it’s hard not to, because cheryl’s been quiet all damn day and fuck it, toni’s worried about her. 

she has half a mind to go upstairs and try to get cheryl to talk to her, but she doesn’t want to wake her, so instead, she shuts the tv off with a sigh and jumps up to pull the couch out, grabbing the blankets and pillows from the drawer under the tv cabinet and prepping herself for bed. 

she’s barely lying down for ten minutes with her eyes slowly drooping when she hears the sound of feet shuffling nearby.

“toni?” 

her eyes snap open, and she pushes herself up off the pull out couch and turns her head to see cheryl standing by her side, playing with the hem of her shirt as tears fall down her cheeks. 

“hey…are you okay?” toni croaks out hoarsely, her voice slightly thick with sleep as cheryl’s bottom lip trembles suddenly.

“i miss them so much, toni…” she whispers brokenly.

toni feels her heart clench, feels her eyes immediately begin to water, and she sighs shakily before she nods once and throws her blanket off her body, holding her arms open with a smile. cheryl sniffs before she collapses onto the fold out bed and into toni’s arms. the pink haired girl holds her close, wrapping her arms around cheryl and pulling her close as cheryl rests her head on toni’s chest with a shaky sigh. 

“i’m s-sorry-.”

“shh, don’t be. i miss them, too…” toni murmurs, sighing against her tiredly. cheryl sniffs again and shifts impossibly closer to her, and toni rubs her bare arms in an attempt to warm them, grabbing the blanket with her free hand and pulling it over their bodies as she does.

it’s quiet for a long time, the both of them slowly beginning to drift off to sleep before toni’s brought back to consciousness by cheryl digging her nails into toni’s sides. 

“toni?”

“yeah?” toni breathes out, swallowing thickly when cheryl props herself up onto her elbow and looks down at her.

“…why do you dye your hair pink?” she whispers. toni smiles, a soft chuckle escaping her as she licks her lips and shakes her head.

“i don’t know, it…it was my mom’s favorite color. she died when i was young and dad…well, he just wasn’t around. but mom always loved pink…i guess it’s my way of keeping her memory alive.” toni murmurs. cheryl looks down at her with this look toni can’t quite interpret, but she barely has time to ponder what it means before cheryl sighs and nods once.

“mom and dad haven’t been the best parents, either. i was always treated like the inferior twin, the child they never wanted but ended up with anyway, and when jason died, it got worse.” she mumbles. toni’s eyes land on the small but very deep scar just above cheryl’s right brow, and for reasons she can’t explain, she reaches up and brushes her thumb over it gently, ignoring the way cheryl inhales sharply at her touch.

“is that from the accident with jason?” toni asks softly. cheryl purses her lips before she nods once, and in another rush of bravery that once again, toni can’t explain…

she leans forward, resting her lips on the scar in a tender kiss and resulting in cheryl letting out a soft whine, and when they pull back at the same time, they both stare at each other for a long time before toni purses her lips and takes cheryl’s hand into her own, gently tugging her down into her arms once again.

“broken homes, huh?” toni says with a sigh. cheryl clutches her close, eyes fluttering closed as she lets out an equally mournful sigh of her own, the both of them trying to ignore the energy charging through them right now.

“yeah…broken homes.” 

————

“and you’re _positive_ you don’t want to actually go out tonight?” 

toni stands at the doorway of the garage with a frown on her face, watching cheryl as she sets up her easel and paint with a chuckle and a nod.

“i’m sure, toni. i’d rather just stay home and actually use this time to paint without worrying about cassandra.” toni watches her in awe before she licks her lips and adjusts cassandra on her hip with a firm nod.

“then that’s what you’ll get! i’ll handle her the whole night, i promise, and if you need anything, you call me!” toni says quickly, and cheryl smiles softly and nods once at her before turning back to her easel. 

toni squares her shoulders and makes her way out of the garage, closing the door shut behind her and leading cassandra into the living room.

the last six months raising cassandra have been going so well…yes, they’ve had their ups and downs and their bumps in the road, but they’ve managed to work out a routine now that toni’s never been more comfortable with. sure, it’s not doing wonders for her dating game, considering the last time she brought a guy back here, she ended up kicking him out before he even entered the house because she felt awkward, but…she’s happy, surprisingly. 

but the fact that cheryl is choosing to spend her night off here at the house instead…

“come on, cassie…best behavior tonight, cheryl deserves a night off.” toni says firmly, but with a smile as cassandra laughs and slaps a hand across her cheek. 

toni decides she might as well continue trying to help cassandra walk, something they’d been trying to teach her for the last month now as she sets her down and lifts her onto her legs, gripping her little hands and hunching over to direct her towards the couch.

“come on, babygirl! one leg in front of the other, you’ve got it!” toni encourages, smiling as cassandra slowly takes each step on wobbly legs. toni goes to slide her hands out of cassandra’s grip in an effort to get her to do it on her own, but as soon as she lets go of one hand, cassandra wobbles and collapses onto the ground on her knees.

and then she starts crying.

and once she starts, she doesn’t stop.

“shit! shit, shit, shit, shit, shhh, cassie, it’s okay!” toni cries, immediately lifting the baby into her arms and cradling her as she cries into toni’s shoulder loudly. 

“toni? what’s going on?!” cheryl’s voice echoes out from the garage almost immediately. toni rolls her eyes, but calls out anyway.

“she just had a bit of a fall, she’s okay!” she hears cheryl sigh, but the garage door closes again and toni lets out a sigh of relief. she knows cheryl worries a lot, but she’s loosened up a bit over the last few months, she doesn’t want to give her reason to become that worry wart again…

but they do need to be more careful. toni’s read up about babies who flat out refused to walk after falling too many times for fear of injury, she doesn’t want that to happen to cassie…

it hits her, after half an hour straight of whining and whimpering from the young girl, that it’s something more than her just falling that’s causing her distress. 

she tries to feed her something, perhaps thinking she’s hungry, but the girl refuses to take a single bite as toni sighs in frustration and lifts her out of her high chair into her arms.

“come on, babygirl, what’s going on with you?” toni murmurs, pressing her lips to her forehead in a tender kiss as cassandra slaps her cheeks with a loud whine. toni sighs again and leads her over to the living room once more, putting on the teletubbies and sitting cassandra down beside her, but ten minutes go by, and cassandra’s still fussing.

toni checks her temperature, checks her diaper, even strips her down and gives her a bath, but nothing seems to relax her at all, and eventually, her simple whining and whimpering turns into full blown tears as she wails while toni bounces her in her arms with soft but frantic coos.

“it’s okay, it’s okay, shh!” 

she’s upstairs in cassandra’s room, so she’s not too worried about cheryl hearing her, but even she’s contemplating grabbing the redhead when ten minutes go by and cassandra is still crying like someone’s just cut her limb off.

toni’s at a loss on what to do, tears in her eyes that she quickly sniffs back as she starts singing under her breath in an effort to calm her down.

and for some stupid ass reason, she sings: 

_“nah nah nah come on! _ _nah nah nah nah nah come on!”_

cassandra whines and whimpers before she they turn into soft gurgles, and toni’s eyes widen before she clears her throat and keeps singing.

_“feels so good being bad_ _there’s no way i’m turning back!”_

cassandra stops whining, suddenly smiles as toni scoffs in disbelief.

“seriously? of all songs?” cassandra fusses again, and toni sighs but bites down on her lip and starts swinging cassandra a little as she continues singing.

_“cause i may be bad, but i’m perfectly good at it!_ _sex in the air, i don’t care, i love the smell of it!_ _sticks and stones may break my bones_ _but chains and whips excite me!”_

toni gasps when she sees how cassandra’s eyes begin to drop closed, her breathing becoming steady as toni grins widely and continues bouncing her gently while singing.

_“nah nah nah come on, come on, come on_ _i like it, like it!_ _come on! come on, come on, i like it, like it!”_

“you are _not_ singing her _that_ song to get her to bed.” toni spins around with a gasp, sees cheryl standing at the doorway with an amused look on her face as toni grins with a nervous chuckle.

“uh, well…it’s the only thing that calmed her down.” cheryl chuckles and shakes her head, and toni rests cassandra into her crib before she makes her way out of the room, gently closing the door behind her. cheryl smiles before she takes toni’s hand, wrapping her fingers around her wrist and dragging her downstairs. 

“i want you to see something.” toni frowns, but follows cheryl into the garage, her eyes landing on the canvases on top of the easel-

“oh holy shit…” toni looks at the paintings in complete and utter shock.

it’s two paintings.

one of betty and jughead, each detail drawn to perfection, a picture of jughead hugging betty from behind with his cheek pressed to hers, the both of them smiling widely and the real life picture in the top right corner of it for reference, and the canvas beside it…

cassandra, in the arms of cheryl and toni, a picture taken a couple of weeks ago with the all three of them laughing, and toni is in complete and utter awe, staring at the two drawings before her in shock.

“what do you think?” cheryl asks with a frown.

toni turns to look at her, eyes wide, shaking her head before she looks back at the paintings in disbelief.

“cheryl…these paintings, they’re…fuck, they’re amazing, i…” toni inhales sharply, steps in front of cheryl and watches as the redhead looks down at her with a smile.

“_you’re_ amazing.” toni breathes, her entire body trembling with something she can’t explain, but her eyes focused on cheryl and cheryl only as the redhead looks down at her with wide eyes, pupils blown. 

“thank you…” she whispers in a small voice. toni hesitates, a hand raising to gently brush her thumb over cheryl’s cheekbone where there’s a bit of dried paint, and cheryl gasps softly before she’s leaning in slowly, lips so close to each other’s-

the sound of loud wailing upstairs has them springing apart, and they exchange wide eyed glances before they both rush back inside and up the stairs, bursting into cassandra’s room to see her standing in her crib with tear filled eyes.

“aww, come on, babygirl…it’s okay…” toni whispers, pulling her up out of the crib and resting her on her hip as cheryl chuckles and runs her fingers through her hair, pulling it out of the ponytail it’s in. 

“should probably sing her that song again…” she murmurs, and toni smiles, her heart still racing and beating wildly at what almost just happened as cheryl makes her way out of the room once more.

———

“toni, you’ve gotta have another pair of jeans in that closet of yours…” 

cheryl smirks in amusement, bouncing cassandra in her arms as she fiddles with the jewelry around cheryl’s neck while toni continues flipping through her closet with a sigh of frustration.

“yes, cheryl, i have more pairs of jeans, but all of them are in the washing!” toni sighs, reaching for her usual ripped jeans before she looks at cheryl with a knowing stare. cheryl rolls her eyes, but turns her back so toni can get changed as cassandra cuddles into cheryl’s shoulder with a tired whine.

“yeah, you should be sleeping, bubby…” cheryl murmurs, pressing a kiss to her hair as she rubs her back soothingly. 

“you sure you’re gonna be okay with her tonight?” toni asks with a frown, prompting cheryl to chuckle and quickly glance over her shoulder with a reassuring nod. 

“it’s your night off, toni. go have fun, i’ll be fine with her.” cheryl says simply. toni purses her lips, but nods and quickly throws her shirt on over her body before she makes her way over to cheryl and presses a kiss to cassandra’s forehead as her eyes slowly droop closed and her head lolls on cheryl’s shoulder tiredly. 

“i know, but you spent your night off awhile back just painting in the garage, and she’s been having trouble sleeping all week-.”

“i can handle her, toni. don’t worry.” cheryl reassures her with a chuckle. toni frowns once again, but sighs before running her fingers through cassandra’s dark hair.

“promise you’ll call if you need me?” 

“i promise. go on!” cheryl says, laughing as toni rolls her eyes and makes her way to the front door, reaching for her leather jacket and her helmet as she does. 

as soon as the rumble of toni’s motorcycle echoes out five minutes later, cheryl sighs and settles onto the couch with cassandra still cuddled up in her arms, the girl fussing slightly and nuzzling into cheryl’s neck while the redhead smiles at the action.

“yeah, you haven’t slept all that well this week, huh? you’re not gonna give me too much trouble with toni not here to help, are you?” cheryl teases, chuckling as cassandra lets out a huff against her neck and whines before slapping a hand against her collarbone. 

she turns the tv on, hears cassandra huff again at the sound of it, and she sighs and changes the channel to a kids one.

the teletubbies come on, prompting cheryl to sigh as she settles into the couch while cassandra turns her face slightly in her arms to watch the tv. cheryl grumbles and adjusts herself until she’s lying flat on the couch with cassandra resting on her chest, her head turned comfortably to watch the screen this time. 

cheryl smiles despite her boredom and rests her lips against cassandra’s forehead. today has been tough, and cheryl’s glad toni has actually left the house for the night, because it’s been a little awkward all day. it’s been officially nine months since they started looking after cassandra, and toni had received a call from some big wig photographer who wanted her to fly out immediately to washington for a photoshoot. toni has told him she had a child to look after now and couldn’t just fly out without warning, and he’d told her to just dump the ‘kid’ and come.

toni had told him to go fuck himself, which had resulted in a screaming match between the both of them, and she’s been upset all day because of it. cheryl had tried to calm her down, but she’s quickly starting to learn that once toni’s angry, it’s practically impossible to calm her down without giving her space for a good ten minutes. 

she sighs and stares down at cassandra, watches the way her eyes drop and her breathing becomes steady, and she rubs the little child’s back and takes a deep breath in before her eyes slowly begin to close from her own fatigue. 

“we won’t leave you, sweet girl, i promise…” 

she doesn’t know what that photographer’s problem was, because toni had refused to give cheryl full details on what the conversation was really about, but she just hopes toni spends tonight trying to forget about it. she’s not worried: toni’s not going anywhere, she knows that, but the idea of toni giving up a big job for them hurts her. she doesn’t want toni to miss out on something big, and what if she ends up regretting it further down the line? but she doesn’t bring it up, doesn’t want to deal with how toni will react to her saying that…

she’s been worried about how toni will react to a lot of things lately.

she still hasn’t forgotten their almost kiss, still has that moment replaying in the back of her mind over and over again, and god, she doesn’t even know why the thought always brings butterflies to her stomach but it does…

she sighs, frowning with concern despite herself before cassandra fusses against her. 

and then-

“mama!” 

cheryl’s eyes fly open, her head dropping to look down at cassandra as she lifts her head and rests her chin on cheryl’s collarbone, her eyes tired and her smile lifting her face.

“oh…oh, cassie, baby, i’m not-.”

“mama!” cassandra repeats, humming softly before she drops her head back on cheryl’s collarbone. 

cheryl blinks back the tears that well in her eyes, rubs cassandra’s back and kisses the top of her black hair, her thoughts filling up with the memories of betty cooper…and god, how much she misses her.

“not…not quite, baby…but for now, until you’re older and i can explain it better…” cheryl whispers, swallowing thickly as her tears leak down the sides of her face and into her hair.

“yeah…i’m your mama.” cassandra giggles, burrows further into her, and it isn’t long before she falls asleep against cheryl, who continues rubbing her back when she suddenly hears the sound of a rumbling motorbike.

she frowns, shifts slightly as the front door opens two minutes later and toni walks in, making her way into the living room slowly, eyes landing on cheryl with cassandra on her chest fast asleep-

“toni? what-.”

“i’d rather stay here with you two.” toni murmurs, shrugging as cheryl smiles and sniffs back her tears. she sits up slowly, being careful not to adjust cassandra too much to wake her up, but she ends up waking up regardless, whining and shuffling against cheryl as toni plops down beside them with a grin. 

“hey, you…” she coos softly, brushing her hair back from her face, and cheryl sniffs once and looks to toni with a sad smile.

“she called me ‘mama’.” she whispers. toni’s eyes widen in shock before tears quickly well in them, and she reaches out, tucks a lock of hair behind cheryl’s ear with a smile as she does.

“you are, cheryl. maybe not her real one, but…you are.” she breathes. cheryl looks up at her, swallows thickly before she knocks her forehead against toni’s playfully.

“so are you.” she whispers back. toni chuckles, and cassandra slaps them both on the arm to get their attention, prompting the both of them to laugh loudly. toni settles into the couch, throws an arm over cheryl’s shoulders before she raises the volume on the tv with a grin.

“alright…what are we watching?” 

———

“we should go out to dinner…just us two.” 

cheryl raises an eyebrow as she quickly quickens her steps behind cassandra, staying right behind her in case she falls as she walks across the living room with a loud peel of laughter. 

“and when will we have time to do that, toni?” cheryl says with a chuckle. toni shrugs as she jumps up off the couch and motions for cassandra to come to her with a grin, laughing as the child stomps her way over to toni and eventually collapses into her open arms unsteadily.

“yay! good girl, cassie! uh, i dunno, but we should do it! we can hire a babysitter.” toni says simply. cheryl ponders it for a moment before she shrugs.

“i guess we could make an attempt…it’s been a long time since i’ve gone out to dinner with someone.” 

“cheryl, i haven’t seen you go on a date since we started looking after cassie, so yeah, it’s been a long time.” 

cheryl freezes, looking up at toni in surprise, but the pink haired girl is barely aware of what she’s just said, is too busy playing with cassandra, and cheryl clears her throat, but ultimately decides not to say anything.

“you’re right…we should do it.” toni grins up at her and simply nods.

“good! friday night, clear your schedule!” 

they end up hiring a babysitter, a young seventeen year old girl who is perhaps a bit more cheerful than normal, as toni had pointed out the second they walked out the door, and when they enter the car, toni can’t help but grin at cheryl widely as the redhead starts the car and begins to peel out of the driveway.

“hey…already made it further than our first date.” she teases.

cheryl rolls her eyes and shoves her lightly at that, but can’t help how her heart begins racing because this is the second time toni has called this dinner a ‘date’.

is that what it is to her? are they actually going on a date right now?

the idea both excites her and scares her. because yes, she may have had a bad experience with toni topaz in the past, and yes, she knows toni topaz isn’t exactly the commitment type, but…she’s changed. they both have, but toni…

fuck, cheryl’s been witness to just how much she has for the last nine months. she’s become a mother to cassandra, and a partner in crime to cheryl. god, cheryl’s never been more thankful that toni fought her on raising cassandra on her own, because if she didn’t have toni by her side for the last nine months, she’s positive she would’ve lost her mind a long time ago.

they’re a team now, and toni won’t turn her back on her this time, she knows it.

so…if it is a date…maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world…because cheryl would be stupid if she denied just how attractive toni is and always has been, right from the start.

toni is the one who opens her door for her when they arrive at the restaurant, is the one who pays for their meals at the end of the night, and is the one who drives back home because cheryl had a glass of wine with her food to wash it down. toni is the one who makes her laugh the entire night with stories about her teenage years and some of the terrible hook ups she’s had in the past.

toni is the one who makes her smile, the one who tucks a lock of hair behind her ear in the middle of dinner and whispers that she’s beautiful.

cheryl tries to ignore the butterflies in her stomach every time she so much as _looks_ at toni, but at this point, she knows it’s pointless.

she has feelings for toni. and she knows toni has feelings for her.

it was inevitable, wasn’t it? raising a kid together, how could they not end up here? 

they get back home, send the babysitter off as well with a hundred and fifty dollars in her back pocket, and cheryl’s eyes are on cassandra fast asleep in her crib, a smile lighting up her face when she hears the front door close shut and toni’s footsteps climbing up the stairs.

“cheryl…” toni says softly, prompting the redhead to turn to face her, unaware of the look in toni’s eyes as she nods back at cassandra in her crib.

“we’ll have to transition her to a bed soon, she’s getting too big for the crib.”

“cheryl…”

“maybe we can start once her birthday comes up? it’s in a month’s time, she’ll be turning two-.”

cheryl’s cut off by warm fingers wrapping around her wrist, tugging her slightly until that hand moves up to cup her cheek, and she finds herself staring into chocolate brown eyes before soft warm lips are capturing her own ruby red ones. 

cheryl’s eyes widen before they flutter closed, her lips parting and eventually moving against toni’s as toni begins pushing her back towards the guest bedroom, their lips never leaving each other’s, months, if not _years_ of built up sexual tension finally exploding-

toni shoves cheryl against the wall, lips moving down to attack her neck as cheryl bites back a whine and pulls toni in closer with a hand around the back of her neck, a barely contained moan escaping her when toni bites down on her pulse point and soothes the sting with her tongue. 

“room, g-get-_fuck_, get in the r-room-.” cheryl manages to gasp out, hand flailing to grab the door handle before they’re stumbling into the guest bedroom and collapsing onto the bed with toni on top of cheryl.

clothes are practically torn off, the both of them desperate to feel skin on skin, and cheryl’s not quite sure how long the world spins around, is not quite sure how long they stay tangled in each other’s embrace, how long they spend on that bed, bringing each other to climax after climax over and over and over and over again, but this…

this feels _right._

and god, does cheryl feel stupid that it’s been right in front of her this whole time and she’s been so oblivious…

cheryl’s not at all surprised to find out that toni’s a post sex cuddler, a breathless laugh escaping her when, once they’re done, toni wraps an arm around her waist and cuddles into her back with a whine and a kiss to her bare shoulder. 

“what?” she breathes into cheryl’s ear, prompting the redhead to turn her head slightly with a small shake of it.

“nothing…just knew you’d be a cuddle bug.” she teases. toni growls lightly, teeth sinking into cheryl’s shoulder playfully as cheryl laughs lightly and rests her temple against toni’s forehead with a sigh.

toni immediately reaches down, begins playing with cheryl’s fingers as cheryl presses a kiss to her hairline.

it’s quiet for a few moments, the both of them just drinking in each other and the night’s events, what’s just _happened_ between them before cheryl suddenly hums softly and turns onto her back to look up at toni in wonder.

“do you think they knew from the start?” she whispers. toni frowns in confusion, and cheryl smiles, her gaze moving over to the ceiling…

“betty and jughead…do you think they knew from the start? that we-.”

“would end up here? i…don’t know. but if they did, they could’ve let us know about it…jerks.” toni grumbles, chuckling as cheryl laughs loudly with an amused smirk. 

“mmm, i quite like the surprise of it all. but i’ve seen this coming for awhile now.” she breathes. toni looks at her in shock, and cheryl taps the tip of her index finger against toni’s nose with a wink.

“i didn’t forget that almost kiss in the garage.” she teases. toni groans and buries her face into cheryl’s neck.

“god, neither did i, do you know how bad i wanted that to happen?” 

“mmm…everything happens for a reason, toni.” cheryl says almost dreamily. toni smiles into her neck, kisses her racing pulse point softly and pulls back to brush her hair from her sweat matted forehead. 

“never believed in that more till now, bombshell.” 

———

“come on, toni! hurry, quick!” 

toni scrambles around the corner, grabs the lighter in her hands tightly and skids to a halt in front of the gigantic cake in front of her girlfriend, breathlessly holding it out to her before she scoops up little cassandra jones into her arms. 

“whoa, look at the big cake mama made for you, huh!?” toni says with excitement, grinning when cassandra babbles at her and slaps her cheek.

“mama cake!” she squeals.

“yeah, mama cake! good job, babe!” toni says with a grin, swiftly pressing a kiss to cheryl’s cheek as the redhead rolls her eyes and gets to work lighting the candles.

“yeah, well, we got a whole neighborhood of hungry people in the dining room, we better make this quick!” cheryl grabs the cake from underneath, begins making her way into the dining room as toni follows behind her, smiling fondly at the photos on the wall that she passes as she does.

she and cheryl had kept a few photos of betty and jughead up for cassandra’s sake, because at the end of the day, they were her parents, and cheryl and toni wanted her to know who they were. but they stopped treating the house as a shrine to their dead best friend’s and began treating it like a home.

they cleared out betty and jughead’s bedroom, saved all of their things in a box for cassandra before moving into it themselves so they could leave the guest bedroom for cassandra when she eventually grew up and would need a bigger room. 

the last month has been something out of a dream for the both of them. yes, there’s been disagreements, and yelling, but god…how could they not see, from day one, even if it was a failed date, that this was fate?

that the chemistry between them over the last three years, the banter and the teasing, it’s all lead to this?

cheryl blossom is toni topaz’s soulmate, and toni topaz is cheryl blossom’s soulmate. of that, they’re both sure. 

cheryl comes to a stop before the dining room door, looking worried and nervous as toni smiles and comes to a stop beside her, knowing straight away what’s going through cheryl’s mind.

“babe…it’s perfect. the whole day has been perfect, okay? don’t stress…jughead and betty would be proud.” toni whispers. cheryl looks up at her, blinks back her tears before she licks her lips and nods once.

“you think so?” she asks softly. toni smiles, hoists cassandra onto her hip and leans in to kiss cheryl on the lips ever so gently with a nod.

“i know so. now come on, let’s celebrate this two year old with style!” 

cheryl grins, throws the door open and begins singing ‘happy birthday’ as the room full of their neighbors and their kids begin singing along with them, wishing cassandra a happy birthday as the kid herself grins and claps her hands excitedly. 

“yay! come one, cassie, blow out the candles!” toni cheers, propping her in front of the cake as both she and cheryl duck down and help her blow out the candles.

it’s an adorable sight, the two year old with puffed out cheeks and cheryl and toni on either side of her doing the same, and someone has the sense to snap a photo of the moment with toni’s camera that she’d given them to do exactly that.

and it’s a photo that remains framed on the wall beside the one of betty and jughead at cassandra’s first birthday for many years to come. 

and cassandra jones will come to realize, a little later in her life, just how blessed she is to have had four loving parents in her lifetime.


End file.
